NEWS FROM LONDON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25456, 10 February 1944, Page 4

NEWS FROM LONDON

DELAYS IN TRANSMISSION! INADEQUATE FACILITIES LONDON, Feb. 8. Complaints of a lack of adequate cabling and wireless facilities between London and the Empire were made at the annual meeting of the Empire Press Union. Lieutenant-colonel the Hon. J. Astor, M.P., in his presidential address, said there was reason for anxiety in the growing difficulty of getting war news quickly overseas to the Empire, especially to Australia and New Zealand. London, as the news centre of the Empire, if not the world, must have adequate news channels if it was to maintain its status.

“The dominions’ war effort is immense.” he said. “They above all have provided superb 'fighting men without stint. These countries must have the

news day by day, and, if possible, hour by hour, cn the progress of the war and the part their men are playing in it. Whole days have passed with the merest trickle of news entering Australia and New Zealand, and then only at urgent rates.” Stale at Destination

The Empire Press Union had secured a press flat rate of Id a word in order to promote the flow of British news and views throughout the Empire, but owing to congestion this was not being achieved. The opportunity should occur for an examination of the whole problem of Empire Press communications with the dominion Premiers- during their forthcoming visit to Britain, he said.

Mr Irvine Douglas, London editor of the Australian Associated Press, said the need for improving cable and wireless facilities had been urged on the Government ever since the outbreak of the war, but the blunt fact must be stated that to-day news from London to many parts of the" Empire, particularly Australia and New Zealand, was often stale by the time it reached its destination. “Australia and New Zealand are in distance farthest from London, but they are probably closest in spirit,” Mr Douglas added. “Is it too much to claim that the staunchly pro-British sentiment of these dominions has in a large measure been maintained and stimulated because most of their overseas news comes from London and reflects the British viewpoint? I say quite deliberately that only the very strong British sentiment of the Australian and New Zealand press has prevented them from shifting their principal offices for the collection of overseas news from London to New York. More than once the pressure of events has almost. compelled them to do so, but even during the bombing of London they resisted that pressure.” Turning to America Several prominent Australians had been in Britain recently, endeavouring to find a solution of the problem, but they had left without any promise of any immediate material improvement, and to-day one of them, was in the United States investigating the possibilities of getting news faster by means of transmission through America. Yet those in Britain responsible for this state of affairs seemed incapable of doing more than shrugging their shoulders in a gesture of despair. “ Does the British Government realise what it would mean if some of the dominions got their overseas news from foreign sources? ” Mr Douglas asked. “We read that the armies of some of our Allies go into action with wireless transmitting equipment not farffjehind them. They apparently think that rapid dissemination of news of what their soldiers are doing is No. 1 priority. We think they are not far wrong.”